Three Pagodas Pass ( Phlone ; my, ဘုရားသုံးဆူ တောင်ကြားလမ်း, ''Paya Thon Zu Taung Za Lang'', ; th, ด่านเจดีย์สามองค์, , ) is a pass in the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range ( my, တနင်္သာရီ တောင်တန်း, ; th, ทิวเขาตะนาวศรี, , ; ms, Banjaran Tanah Seri/Banjaran Tenang Sari) is the geographical name of a r ...

on the border between

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Burma), at an elevation of . The pass links the town of Sangkhla Buri in the north of Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, to the town of Payathonsu in the south of

Kayin State Kayin State ( my, ကရင်ပြည်နယ်, ; kjp, ဖၠုံခါန်ႋကၞင့်, italics=no; ksw, ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်, ), also known by the endonyms Kawthoolei and Karen State, is a state of Myanmar. The ...

, Myanmar.

Etymology

The pass is named after three small, crumbling

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

s or ''chedis'' which were probably built at the end of Ayutthaya period as a symbol of peace. The pagodas are now on the Thai side of the border in the village of Phra Chedi Sam Ong. Parts of the border are still disputed.Thailand Highlight
/ref> These three chedis appear in the provincial seal of Kanchanaburi Province in stylized form. The pass gives its name to the

Three Pagodas Fault The Three Pagodas Fault is a right-lateral displacement Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, strike-slip fault between Burma and Thailand named after the Three Pagodas Pass. It developed as a consequence of the collision between the Indian Plate, In ...

History

The pass has been the main land route into western Thailand since ancient times. It is one of the few passes in the

, and is believed be the point at which Buddhist teachings reached the country from India in the 3rd century. During the

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...

period in Thai history (14th–18th centuries), the pass was the main invasion route for the Burmese, but at times was also used against them by Siamese armies. The first Burmese invasion through the pass occurred in 1548 during the

Burmese–Siamese War (1547–1549) The Burmese–Siamese War (1547–1549) ( my, ယိုးဒယား-မြန်မာစစ် (၁၅၄၇–၄၉); th, สงครามพม่า-สยาม พ.ศ. 2090–2092), also known as the Shwehti war ( th, สงคร ...

.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, ''Our Wars With the Burmese'', Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., During World War II, Japan built the infamous

Death Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...

(officially Taimen – Rensetsu Tetsudo) through the pass. There is a memorial to commemorate the thousands of British, Australian, Dutch and American prisoners of war, and Asian forced labourers who died during the construction of the railway. The region is home to several hill tribes, including

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

s and Mons, who are unable or unwilling to obtain citizenship from either country. Separatist armies have repeatedly tried to take seize of the pass from Myanmar, with the Mons in effective control until 1990, when Burmese troops regained it. There is still occasional fighting in the area.

Tourism

Three Pagodas Pass is popular with tourists, who are allowed to obtain a one-day visa from the Thai side to visit Payathonsu. Attractions on the Burmese side include wooden furniture, jade carvings, and textiles. Thai tourists are allowed in as of 2011, while other tourists are not, due to its status as a temporary border checkpoint which only allows day trips between the two neighbouring countries.

Festivals

With the rambling strutting

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

s of the Buddhist temple of Wat Suwankhiri on a Payathonsu cliff near by, during April, Three Pagodas Pass becomes a site of the Songkran Festival with

cockfights A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a " game", a sport, pastime or ent ...

, Thai-Burmese kickboxing and various folk dancing.Lonely Planet Thailand (8th ed) by Joe Cummings (Aug 1999) p.380
/ref>

References

External links

* *
Thailand Travel Guide for Kanchanaburi
{{Border Crossings of Myanmar Tenasserim Hills Mountain passes of Thailand Mountain passes of Myanmar Myanmar–Thailand border crossings Geography of Kanchanaburi province Tanintharyi Region Territorial disputes of Thailand Territorial disputes of Myanmar